Is Salvu Mallia The PN’s Best Campaign Strategy Ever, Or Just A Loose Cannon?

Photo: Malta Independent

TV personality and PN candidate Salvu Mallia is on a headline-making roll. Just last week his controversial interview with the Times of Malta had more than a few feathers ruffled, and he’s now back with a one-man-one-dog protest.

Mallia planted himself outside Castille this morning, with a bouquet of flowers in hand and placard around his neck which read: ‘Dear EU delegates your presence in my country is being used by the government to give respectability to a corrupt regime.’ The bouquet of flowers was for laying under the monument to Manwel Dimech, the placard was – well pretty self-explanatory. 

Speaking to the press, Mallia explained his controversial comparison between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Muscat, explaining how his statements pointed to how the government is blinding the nation’s voters in order to carry out their own agendas.

During the protest Mallia compared himself to Jesus Christ, Che Guevara and Gandhi; defended “vulgar” language he is being accused of using in previous press statements; said that if the public didn’t understand his intentions it was because of lack of education; and compared Malta to a patient suffering from a heart attack. 

And that’s just this week.

Mallia is getting a lot of press coverage – even from the Labour Party. Some Labour exponents are warning against giving him so much attention, whilst other are capitalising on his fearless statements and comparisons.

So, with all that’s been going on with this political rogue, we have to ask – is this a massive plan being orchestrated by the PN, or a huge and potentially fatal risk on their part?

His actions so far could be indicative of one of two scenarios: 

Scenario one: He’s using the same headline-grabbing tactics as Trump and the Brexiteers as a really smart way for the PN to show that the party is becoming less conservative, but will still not let go of its core, moral absolutes – cue Simon Busuttil’s reaction. 

Scenario two: They let this guy in without really knowing what the fallout would be, and are now waiting to see whether his actions will be exactly what the population wants, or a serious detriment in the run up to the next election. They had better figure it out soon though, because Mallia is already being labelled the ‘new leader’ of the party.

Well, if the world showed us anything in 2016, it’s that they are tired of the establishment powers, and pretty much done with being politically correct about it. The big question is whether Malta feels the same way or not.